In the last 34 years, one municipality per month has been dissolved for mafia reasons

Eleven regions are involved - which becomes thirteen if we consider the audits that ended with a filing. 89% of dissolutions (360) occurred in Calabria, Campania and Sicily. This percentage rises to 96% (386) if we also consider Puglia. The remaining 16 occurred inLazio (5), Piemonte (3), Liguria (3), Basilicata (2), Lombardia (1), Emilia-Romagna (1) and Valle d'Aosta (1). In Sardinia and Veneto audits ended with dismissals.

There are34 provinces involved throughout the country. In five - Reggio Calabria, Naples, Caserta, Palermo and Vibo Valentia - 63% of dissolutions occurred.

Of the 294 local authorities subject to dissolution from 1991 to 30 September 2025, 288 are municipalities and 6 are provincial health authorities. On the basis of demographic data, supplied by ISTAT and collected at the time the decree was issued, it appears that 72% of the municipalities dissolved for mafia-related reasons since 1991 had a resident population of less than 20,000 inhabitants, 51% had less than 10,000 inhabitants, and 34% were under 5,000 inhabitants. Just 9% of the 288 municipalities dissolved for mafia reasons had a resident population that exceeded the 50,000 inhabitants ceiling at the time of dissolution.

The legislation providing for the dissolution of a local authority represents an instrument of a preventive nature aimed at stemming what is a substantial attack on democracy. Although the legislation over the 34 years of its application has passed through numerous rulings by the Tar (Regional Administrative Court) and the Council of State, which have helped to define more precisely the institution and the way in which it has been concretely implemented, the law on dissolution has shown some limitations over time, which have manifested themselves in a number of critical issues.

From reiterated dissolution to the difficulty of 'purifying' local authority employees of the influence of criminal organisations, from the problem of incandidabilità for local administrators held responsible for conduct that favoured the dissolution, in the absence of a criminal conviction, until the duration of the Commission of Access's investigation proceedings, which can last for months, risking compromising the immediacy of the intervention necessary in emergency situations.

The objective pursued by Avviso Pubblico over the years of study and debate on the subject of this hearing has been not only to highlight the problems of application of the legislation but, above all, to put forward proposals for concrete amendments, suggested by the observation of the facts in the various realities involved, thanks also to the help and cooperation of prefects who have played the role of ordinary commissioners, jurists, university professors and social researchers.

The ultimate aim has always been to stimulate a public, political and cultural debate, presenting and delivering proposals to politicians, who have the task and responsibility to make decisions that aim to safeguard collective interests by guaranteeing, in accordance with constitutional principles, security and democracy for all citizens.

The President of the National Anti-Corruption Authority Giuseppe Busia and the Deputy Prosecutor at the National Anti-Mafia Directorate Salvatore Dolce discussed dysfunctions and possible remedies.

For Anac president Giuseppe Busia, there is ample room for improvement in the current legal framework. "One could envisage, in particular, interactions between the institute of dissolution for mafia reasons and the extraordinary management measures," Busia writes in his preface to the dossier "Il male Comune" (The Common Evil), "support and monitoring of companies entrusted with public contracts that are involved in corruption episodes or in situations symptomatic of criminal conduct.

Measures that have the significant advantage,' emphasises the president of Anac, 'of being flexible and adaptable to the concrete case, especially in the current collaborative and guarantor interpretation that we have wanted to give it in recent years. "The mafia, unfortunately, is not only a problem of public order, but is a cancer that infiltrates communities and feeds on connections and collusions, taking away growth opportunities from the economic and social fabric. To eradicate it,' Busia warns, 'therefore, a merely repressive response is not enough, but we need a resilient administration and society, capable of opposing it with strength and determination. It is a job that must first and foremost leverage the culture of individuals and communities, to build a heritage of institutional credibility and good administration, a vital basis for any path of civil commitment and democratic growth'.

Again according to the president of Anac, 'it is necessary to strengthen the mechanisms of transparency of public action, both as a bulwark against infiltration, and to ensure the involvement of citizens in public decision-making processes and, finally, as a tool for efficiency, also thanks to the creation of new opportunities for rationalising administrative action. In this way, through civic participation, the municipalities dissolved by mafia can become laboratories of good administration and, therefore, of good politics'.

Deputy Prosecutor Salvatore Dolce shifts the focus to the new mafia. "Law 164 of '91 came into being in the aftermath of the events surrounding the famous feud of Taurianova - recalls Dolce - But today we are dealing with a mafia, and I would say in particular with a'ndrangheta, which is certainly very different from 1991. The investigations of the twenty-six district prosecutors' offices over the last ten years have shown how mafias today tend increasingly to abandon the method of violence and intimidation and to favour the path of collusion, of corruption. And this is no coincidence,' stresses the deputy prosecutor, 'it is obvious that travelling under the radar, without the clamour of attacks, bombs and threats helps the clans a great deal. For this reason,' Dolce concludes, 'it is necessary to keep our attention high and work to create a synergic area, involving citizens and associations such as Avviso Pubblico'.